K5 Sensor Issues...

You have heard around 5%? A figure plucked out of thin air? So you're pitting hearsay against an actual poll on TWO seperate forums? The polls are not perfect of course, but they correlate in figures and are the ONLY evidence we have.

Nice one Gwyn!!

The 5% figure came from SRS... who now seem to have dropped to 4% according to another member on here...

Exit and opinion polls mean nothing its only the final vote or numbers that count....

As I said only Pentax know how bad the issue is....

SRS who heard some hearsay from one unofficial statement from ONE Pentax employer. The polls say otherwise. I trust a collective reporting from users over some hearsay from one employee who is bound to try and minimise the issue.

Companies can't get away with such spin in the Internet age where consumers have the means of mass communication with each other.



They don't mean 'nothing' - They have a lot of value as basis to extrapolate from.

That's true and companies cannot be trusted to tell the whole truth.

Umn. Smeggy....
hate to point this out... but a poll on a brand forum isn't going to be anywhere near representative of the market share.
You can be argumentative if you choose, but unless you are factoring ACTUAL sales and ACTUAL problems all you are doing is guessing, and at that it is very unscientific.

the polls are of forum members which do not represent the majority of consumers who bought a camera.

for example you could take a poll at a party for season ticket holders at an american football leagues pre-season warm up party and come to the conclusion you know who will win the Superbowl... (because they're the most dedicated and often biased fans to poll).

but if your poll is done in every teams hometown you'll get a different result.


This forum may have diversity but it is full of people that take their photography seriously... others could have a fault for months or years and not notice it...
The poll only demonstrates that early adaptors that are enthusiasts are finding a large percentage of their new cameras have a fault.... All these faults COULD be attributed to ONE or TWO early production runs that got snapped up by enthusiasts.... who happen to frequent forums, some of whom might not have noticed a problem for years if not for the forums. A small percentage of buyer in other words......

Only pentax is in a position to compare sales to returns to defects and calculate the percentage of defects... and if it were even close to 50% there will be a recall or a class action lawsuit.

We Pentaxians are different than the guy who just buys the camera the salesman suggested.
We'd more likely NOTICE a problem and get on the forum to share the info.
for every Forum member that bought a camera, there are many non forum members out there who may have a GOOD copy... 10% more? 50% more? 98% more? how would I know?

The forums demonstrate that there is a concern with the early production models and that enthusiasts are reporting it to Pentax.
The poll IMHO is useless.
The problem however seems significant and I await further information.
This is why I seldom, if ever, get in line to buy the "First" anything electronic or expensive.

Not noticing a fault isn't the same as not having it though. The poll could be skewed by newcomers who have only come to this website because they have a problem, but there do seem to be a high number of long standing members who have found their K-5 is affected... 5% seems a bit optimistic in light of this. Perhaps that figure is skewed because people haven't noticed the issue yet?

Say a car had a fault where the brakes cut out above 100mph. Half the number of cars sold had the fault, but only 10% of the owners of those cars realised something was wrong (most people don't drive that fast normally). Does that mean that only 5% of the cars are affected (10% of 50%) or 50%?

I biased my answer to lean towards recognition of the fact that there is a problem.
I'm not saying there isn't a problem, I'm saying the forums are helpful in diagnosing and sharing info, but the polls are useless.

A poll needs to be both random and large to be anywhere near accurate.
Unless you got a list of actual buyers, choose people off that list at random, as well as choosing a large sample, and send them a standardized test procedure and then make the poll, you are only rigging your poll to make the problem appear bigger than it may really be.

Lets just say its probably above 5% and below 50% of users and leave it at that.

agree.

Yes, that's probably a safe bet

My new K5 arrives on Tuesday, I asked how many with stained sensors they had recieved and they stated "Not Many". Most of them have been plain old dirty sensors, which have been cleaned and are to be returned to their owners. The issue of how many will therefore probably never be solved because who will own up to sending theirs in and being wrong?
Mine of course was a stained sensor...
Oh yes it was!!!:arrow:
However I have to say Bravo to SRS! I was a Nikon user for 25Yr's and have never been treated by a Shop or Camera Company as well as this!
Even beats Grays of Westminster, I used to be a Nikon Professional services Member so I know about shoddy oh yes...

Pull my other sensor..... it's got snow on it!

My other Sensor is a K7 which is permanently "Snowy"

'Not many' was also the answer I was given, so it may be that it is what all retailers have been asked to say by Pentax. I gave my supplier the option to try a professional clean of the sensor but he basically said their was little point and that all K5s considered by owners to have sensor blemishes (call them what you will) are to be sent to Johnsons for checking. Perhaps Johnsons might find some that clean up OK but there is no need for the owners to have red faces. A wet sensor clean of a brand new DSLR should not be necessary.

Jim